President Thomas Jefferson Appoints the Original Ship’s Carpenter on the Nautilus, As It Prepared to Sail With Edward Preble to Confront the Barbary States

In the late 18th century, pirate crews from the Ottoman states of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Morocco, collectively the Barbary States, terrorized the Mediterranean.  They seized goods, commandeered vessels, held captured crews ransom, and demanded payment of tribute from the European states that got caught in their nets.  Dating from the Treaty of Alliance with France, US vessels were protected by the French.  But once the US signed a formal treaty with Great Britain securing its independence, it was left to defend its own trade routes.  On October 11, 1784, the brigantine Betsey was captured by Moroccans.  The Spanish government helped negotiate the freedom of the crew but gave the Americans an important lesson: avoid this problem by paying tribute.  Over time, this resulted in a series of agreements with the Northern African states that came at a real financial price.  Yet this did not stop the attacks, and many captives remained in servitude for a decade or more in spite of such agreements.  In 1798, seeking to counter this, the US Department of the Navy was formed.

Thomas Jefferson objected vociferously to the continued payment of tribute. As US Minister to France, he had helped negotiate the agreements and met with his Northern African counterparts.  He understood their motives and that more tribute bred more demands.  When Jefferson took office in 1801, Congress immediately passed legislation providing for six frigates which "in the event of a declaration of war on the United States by the Barbary powers these ships were to protect our commerce and chastise their insolence…"  When the Bashaw of Tripoli, its ruler, demanded a $225,000 tribute from the new President on his inauguration, he refused, sparking a de facto declaration of war from the Barbary nation.  Jefferson, authorized to do so by Congress, took the initiative to send a force to patrol the waters around Tripoli, and on August 1, 1801, the USS Enterprise defeated the vessel Tripoli.  Congress continued to pass legislation authorizing the seizure of Tripolitan vessels and property, and the US Navy went unchallenged on the sea.

In 1803, therefore, needing a new and strong commander, President Jefferson turned to Commodore Edward Preble, who had served with distinction in the Navy since its 1798 founding.

Now solely in control of all the vessels engaging the Tripolitans, Preble sailed for the Mediterranean on August 14, 1803, on board the USS Constitution. On arriving, he established a blockade of Tripoli and convened with the officers under his command, among whom were Stephen Decatur, David Porter, and Richard Somers, who in May of 1803 had been ordered to Baltimore as commander of the USS Nautilus, which sailed with Preble. Somers needed to man this boat with capable sailors and others to help him on his new mission to confront his Barbary opponents with Preble.  Among the 10 men who joined Richard Somers was Robert Fell, the boat's carpenter.

Document signed by Thomas Jefferson as President, vellum, Washington, June 6, 1803, being Fell's appointment to join the Nautilus and sail to the Mediterranean.

A remarkable memento connecting President Jefferson with Preble's voyage to the Barbary States and the First Barbary War.